Entertainment · pricing
Unreal Engine pricing
Unreal Engine publishes 2 tiers. Below is each one, what it adds over the tier beneath it, and where the ladder stops being worth climbing for most people.
As of 30 August 2026, Unreal Engine pricing is free across 2 published tiers. Figures are the vendor's list prices as recorded on this page's last check; the vendor's site is the final word.
- Entry price
- Free
- Model
- Not recorded
- Tiers
- 2
- Free tier
- Yes
Unreal Engine plans, side by side
Every published tier in ascending order of price, with the number of features each one lists. An absence here means the record does not itemise it, not that the tier lacks it.
| Plan | Price | Features listed | Step up from the tier below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Development | Free | 3 | Entry tier |
| Non-Game Commercial | $1850/year | 2 | +$1850/year, 2 more features |
What each tier adds
The set difference between each tier's feature list and the one beneath it. Where a tier lists nothing new, the vendor has either stopped repeating the inherited list or the tier raises limits rather than adding capability, the record does not distinguish the two, so this page does not either.
Game Development
FreeThe entry tier. It covers nanite geometry, lumen global illumination, blueprint visual scripting.
Non-Game Commercial
$1850/yearOver Game Development, this tier adds:
- No royalties
- Enterprise features
Where Unreal Engine stops being free
Game Development, Free
- Nanite geometry
- Lumen global illumination
- Blueprint visual scripting
Non-Game Commercial, $1850/year
The first thing you pay for:
- No royalties
- Enterprise features
What the product covers
The full Unreal Engine feature record, grouped as the catalogue groups it. This is the product as a whole; the record does not map every feature onto a specific tier.
Other
- Real-time ray tracing
- Nanite geometry
- Lumen global illumination
- Blueprint visual scripting
- C++ programming
- World composition
- Animation systems
- Audio engine
Integrations
- Visual Studio
- Perforce
- GitHub
- Maya
- 3ds Max
- Blender
- Substance
- Houdini
Security
- Source code access
- Custom security implementations
Deployment
- Local deployment
Platform
- Windows support
- Macos support
- Linux support
Localization
- C++ language support
- Blueprint Visual Scripting language support
People bring Unreal Engine in for aaa game development, indie game creation, architectural visualization, film and tv production, vr/ar experiences. If that is not the job you are buying for, the alternatives to Unreal Engine are worth a look before you commit to a tier.
How that compares in Entertainment
Too few entertainment tools in this directory publish a starting price to quote a meaningful median, so the table below is a like-for-like list rather than a ranking.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Rated | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unreal Engine (this page) | Free | - | - | |
| Philo | $33/month | Per household per month, single plan | - | vs Unreal Engine |
| StubHub | Free | Free to browse, two sided transaction fees on buyers and sellers | - | vs Unreal Engine |
| The Roku Channel | Free | Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons | - | vs Unreal Engine |
| mpv | Free | Open source, no licence fee | - | vs Unreal Engine |
| Infuse | Free, then $1.99/month | Per user per month | - | vs Unreal Engine |
| fuboTV | $73.99/month | Per household per month, tiered plans | - | vs Unreal Engine |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry, they are not reviews hosted on Softwr. How each figure is used is set out on the Unreal Engine badges page.
Before you pay for Unreal Engine
Three things this page cannot tell you, and all three change the bill. The record carries a price and a billing period but not the unit - per-seat and flat-rate pricing are indistinguishable in this data, so a five-person team may be looking at five times the figure above. It carries no annual rate, so any discount for paying yearly is not something this page can quote. And it carries no trial length.
What it can tell you is the shape of the ladder: 2 tiers between Free and $1850/year, with the jump itemised above. Because there is a free tier, the cheapest way to answer the rest is to use it before paying anything.
Unreal Engine runs on pc, macos, linux, playstation, xbox, nintendo switch, ios, android, vr, ar, and is published by Epic Games Inc of Cary, NC. The full record is on the Unreal Engine review, and the rest of the category is under best entertainment tools.
Unreal Engine pricing questions
- How much does Unreal Engine cost?
- Unreal Engine publishes 2 tiers, from Free for Game Development up to $1850/year for Non-Game Commercial. The entry tier costs nothing.
- Does Unreal Engine have a free plan?
- Yes. The Game Development tier costs nothing and covers nanite geometry, lumen global illumination, blueprint visual scripting. Paying starts at $1850/year for Non-Game Commercial.
- What is the difference between Game Development and Non-Game Commercial on Unreal Engine?
- Non-Game Commercial costs $1850/year against Free, and adds no royalties, enterprise features.
- Which entertainment tools can I use without paying?
- 5 of the 8 entertainment tools listed alongside Unreal Engine have a free tier: StubHub, The Roku Channel, mpv, Infuse, IINA.
- What am I actually paying for with Unreal Engine?
- The record lists 24 features across 6 areas: other, integrations, security, deployment, platform, localization. In practice it is brought in for aaa game development, indie game creation, architectural visualization.
- Does Unreal Engine charge per user?
- The record carries a price and a billing period for each of its 2 tiers, but not the unit that price is charged in. Per-seat and flat-rate billing look identical in this data, so check the vendor's page before budgeting for a team.
- Are these Unreal Engine prices current?
- They are what the catalogue entry holds, refreshed when the entry is. Vendors change pricing without notice and nobody at Softwr re-verifies each tier by hand, so treat this as a structured summary and the vendor's own pricing page as the authority.
- What should I compare Unreal Engine against before paying?
- The closest entertainment tools in this directory are Philo, StubHub, The Roku Channel, mpv. Each has a side-by-side comparison with Unreal Engine covering price, platforms and features.